Creatures of the Sewers
by ILikeToSneeze
Summary: They fight new mutants all the time, so why is this so challenging? Enemies new and old merge as the turtles are faced against the creatures of the sewers.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, this is my first story and I hope you like it. Please review so I know you're enjoying it :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT. At all.**

* * *

It had become an everyday thing now – going out, searching for these canisters of green gloop. They never thought anything of it, and still didn't; it was just a way of life for them now. It wasn't just April's life which had changed that fateful day – the Hamato family's lives had changed too. From being stuck in the sewers all day every day, not being able to leave or to meet anyone new, to suddenly going outside almost every day with their new friend, fighting with new enemies. It was odd, to say the least, but they'd gotten used to it now. Now, they couldn't imagine life without April, and they couldn't imagine not going up topside, even though a few months prior they hadn't even known what a pizza was.

Raph smiled as he thought about their fortunate lives. They were lucky to have met April; although they had saved her from the Kraang that night, she had saved them from solitude their entire lives. And now, they were out looking for mutagen, stealing it from the Kraang and taking it from the streets.

It was Donnie who had figured out that the Kraang would have this mutagen, and it was Leo who had figured out where they would be. Entering the abandoned building through the skylight was simple enough; it was already smashed. Having to withstand his genius brother going on about how amazing electro magnets are, while their 'fearless leader' came up with a plan? That was another story entirely.

"Donnie," said Raph. "For the last time, we can't understand what you're saying!"

"Yeah, dude. Speak English for once!" agreed Mikey.

"Well, I'm sorry if you guys are too –"

"Guys, ninjas are supposed to be _silent_!" Leo glared over at the other three from his position on a wooden beam; one of many in the ceiling of the room.

"Then why are you talking?" asked Mikey.

"Oh, for the love of –"

"Mikey, shut up before I make you." Raph said, pounding his fist into his palm.

"What did I do?"

"What didn't you do?" said Donnie.

"Guys, knock it off! You're gonna get us caught!" said Leo, pointing down to where the Kraang were standing, each of them holding guns, although one was holding a glass canister of mutagen. There were wooden crates stacked around them, although the content of the unmarked crates was unknown.

"Leo, we can handle a few Kraang. Why are we sitting up here?" asked Raph, gesturing to the wooden beams supporting them and the roof of the building.

"Because," said Leo. "Master Splinter told us we need to practice our stealth, and this the perfect chance to try it out."

"But dude," protested Mikey, "it's so _boring_ up here!" he flung his arms out wide to exaggerate his point and Leo smacked his palm against his face.

"That's it, I'm going." said Raph, and before Leo could stop him, he had jumped down from the beam, pulling out his sais as he fell. He landed on top of one of the Kraang and plunged the sais into it's robotic head, pulling them out as purple sparks erupted from the head of the robot.

"Guess we're gonna have to-" Leo stopped upon noticing the absence of his other two brothers and sighed when he looked down to see that they had joined Raph in the fight.

Leo jumped down and joined in the fight next to Mikey, who smiled at his brother. "Nice of you to join us, bro!" said Mikey as he swung his nunchuks, knocking a Kraang into the wall.

"I can't believe you guys didn't listen to my instructions – again!" said Leo, ignoring his little brother.

"All we need to do it get the canister." said Raph, kicking away a headless Kraang. "And that's what we're gonna do. We don't need all that 'stealth' nonsense – we're doing fine!"

"Got it!" shouted Donnie, holding up the canister of green slime for the others to see.

"Great, now let's get out of here!" said Leo, jumping back up to the beams.

"You mean _run away_?" snorted Raph as Mikey and Donnie followed Leo.

"_Now_, Raph!" said Leo sternly, and Raph sighed as he ricocheted off the wall to land on a beam. The four then sprinted across them, dodging the bullets from the Kraang, and jumped out of the smashed glass of the skylight.

"This gets us up to a grand total of four." said Donnie sarcastically, looking at the canister in his hands with an expression not unlike distaste.

"Sweet!" said Mikey, bouncing forwards. "Can I see?" without waiting for an answer, Mikey snatched the container from Donnie's hands with admirable speed, and inspected it curiously.

"Mikey," said Leo, frowning at his brother. "This isn't any different to any others we've found. Why are you so interested?"

Mikey narrowed his eyes, still looking closely at the container. "I dunno." He replied. "This one just seems..._different_"

"That's the most ridiculous-" began Raph, but was cut off by Donnie.

"He's right!" the genius exclaimed, staring at the gloop. "It's slightly bluer than the others we've collected."

"Let's get back to the lair so we can check it out," said Leo.

* * *

As they made their way back through the sewers, the brothers discussed the next best plan of action.

"We need to focus more," said Leo. "That way, we'd get more done. We should split into teams next time."

"What teams?" asked Mikey curiously.

"Depends on the situations," replied Leo.

"What if the Kraang get to them first?" wondered Donnie. "Do you think they'd turn all of the humans into mutants?"

"What if they brainwash them?" suddenly said Mikey. "They would make them go after us! We'd be hunted down like in 'monsters from hell'!"

"Mikey, don't believe everything you read," warned Leo. "Those comics are just made up."

"Oh yeah?" countered Mikey. "Tell that to the Squirrelanoids!"The green glow from the canister of mutagen lit up his face, showing his wide eyes and fearful expression. "Ow!" he cried out as Raph slapped him upside the head.

"Stop scaring yourself while we're in a dark sewer!" said Raph, and Mikey gulped, looking around and wishing he wasn't at the back of the group.

A squeak sounded from behind Mikey and he squealed, throwing the container of mutagen in the air in surprise. He watched helplessly as the canister fell into the rushing sewer water running next to the concrete they were using as a footpath.

"MIKEY!" shouted all three of his brothers.

"Give me _one_ reason why I _shouldn't_ throw you in there after it." demanded Raph, angrily approaching his youngest brother.

"Uhh..." Mikey looked at Raph, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Come one guys, it's long gone. Let's just go." Said Leo, and the group continued their trek home, but not before Raph gave Mikey a slap upside the head. Mikey looked behind him and glared at the sewer rat that had scared him, before running to catch up with his brothers.

"Mikey, I can't believe you!" exclaimed Donnie as they arrived home, throwing his arms up in annoyance.

"What? I said I was sorry!" replied Mikey, frowning as he launched himself onto the bean bag in the pit.

"We spent _ages_ searching for that mutagen, and you just go and throw it away!"

"I didn't _mean_ to!"

"You never do!" Donnie clenched his fists and stormed off to his lab, Mikey watching him leave open-mouthed. Donnie _never_ shouted at him like that if it was an accident.

"Mikey," said Leo, walking over and sitting cross-legged in front of the TV. "Donnie's just annoyed because he's run out of mutagen to experiment with. You know he's blaming himself for April's dad and Timothy. Plus, I'm sure he was looking forward to seeing how that mutagen was different to the others." Leo flicked through the channels a few times before smiling as he landed on a rerun of space heroes. It was one of Leo's favourites; Captain Ryan had sent one of the rookies out into unknown territory and he hadn't returned. Now, they had to go out and search for the missing team member.

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Nice job, knucklehead." said Raph, from his spot on the sofa. "You managed to annoy Donnie." Spike nodded his head wisely from his place on Raph's shoulder before munching on a leaf carefully handed to him by his owner.

"You know what?" said Mikey suddenly, standing up. "It's obvious that you guys don't want me around because of that stupid mutagen, so I'm gonna bring it back _myself_."

When he got no response from either of his brothers, Mikey sighed before turning and running out of the lair into the darkness of the sewers.

"What'd he say?" asked Raph, patting Spike on the head.

"Huh?" said Leo, turning his head towards his brother without taking his eyes off the action taking place on the screen. "Dunno, something about being stupid."

"Oh," replied Raph, and went back to fussing over Spike.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Glad you're liking it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT**

* * *

"Okay, if I were mutagen where would I be?" said Mikey to himself as he walked through a sewer tunnel. He had gone back to the place he'd lost the mutagen and had followed the stream of water to where he was now, but there was still no sign of the canister of ooze.

Mikey carried on walking for ten minutes more, until he reached what he thought was the end of the tunnel. "It's gotta be here!" he smiled and ran to where the tunnel cut off, but stopped short with a gasp and jumped back as he steadied himself. Moving forwards again, slower this time, Mikey looked at the huge gap in the tunnel. It was deep and dark, and Mikey gulped as he thought of what could have happened had he not stopped himself in time.

He once again peered over the edge and looked down, watching the path of the water beside him as it cascaded down into the hole in a loud waterfall, although surprisingly it didn't fill up the huge space. _It must escape through some other opening in the ground down there; otherwise the whole sewers would be filled up at this rate,_ thought Mikey. His keen eyes searched around until they lit up in excitement. There, about a meter away from the waterfall, was glowing ooze. "Yes!" Mikey whispered to himself, for some reason not feeling comfortable enough to speak out loud.

Mikey pulled his kusarigama from his belt and wrapped the bladed end around a pipe above his head. He then threw the other end down the hole, and pulled as hard as he could to make sure it was completely safe. Certain that it would hold him, Mikey began his descent. He held the chain tightly and swung himself round, placing both of his feet on the wall. He then slowly walked down the crater until he reached the bottom, jumping the small distance his kusarigama couldn't reach. Looking up, he frowned as he realised he couldn't reached the chain, but shrugged it off as a problem for later when he had the mutagen.

It didn't take him long to spot the glowing ooze again, but as he reached it, his eyes widened in dismay as he saw that the canister had smashed on impact. There was glass scattered around the mutagen which was in a puddle on the uneven ground. Mikey looked around in panic, knowing that if he left it there then something would _definitely_ get mutated, and with his luck it would be something even worse than the Squirrelanoids. "Oh man oh man," said Mikey, clawing at his head as he tried to think of what to do. He scanned the area but it soon became clear that the only way out was through a choice of two tunnels; one which had two creepy lights in it, and the other which was going the opposite way to the lair. "Okay, I'm stuck down here with a puddle of mutagen that I need to get back to Donnie, who I can't get to because I have no idea how to get home." He lightly punched his forehead, "C'mon Mikey, think! What would Leo do?"

Mikey cried out in fright as a shrieking sound pierced the silence of the sewer. Mikey shakily looked over to the source of the sound, and gulped as he looked down the tunnel with the lights. Weren't there two lights? Now there were six. Eight. Ten. More and more lights appeared in the darkness and Mikey sucked in a break as realisation hit him. They weren't lights – they were eyes!

* * *

A distant shriek followed by a panicked cry echoed through the sewers, making its way to the lair. Leo looked around in confusion, before his eyes settled on Raphael. His show had finally finished, although Raph was still clearly entertained by his pet turtle. "You hear that Raph?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," replied Raph. "You think Donnie –"

"Guys, what was that? I'm trying to concentrate!" said Donnie, making his way towards his two older brothers, before stopping and looking around. "Where's Mikey?"

"I dunno, he said something about mutagen and then walked off." replied Raph, putting spike on the cushion next to him.

"What _exactly_ did he say?" asked Donnie, raising an eyebrow at his brother.

"Uhh..." Raph looked at his elder brother. "Leo, you were closer."

Leo shrugged, "He said something about finding the mutagen, but I didn't really hear."

"Why?" asked Raph suddenly, before his eyes widened in panic. "You don't think –"

"I hope not, but what if it is? I checked his room before I came here and he wasn't there." replied Donnie.

"We have to find him; whatever made that sound was clearly some kind of mutant." decided Leo.

The other two nodded in agreement and ran out of the lair in search of their missing brother.

* * *

Mikey put his hands to his ears to stop the pounding pain as the creatures screeched, and squeezed his eyes shut until the horrible noise stopped. When it did, he looked up as the owners of the eyes emerged from the darkness. Shadow slipped off their mutated bodies as they came into full view. There were at least six of them from what he could tell, although there could easily be more hidden by the ones in front. They looked to be about the height of Rahzar, maybe taller, and had what looked like armoured fur. Their rat-like grey snouts had two, sharp teeth overlapping the bottom lip, and they had eight arms, each with four huge, razor sharp claws. Mikey screamed and took off running through the only other exit, his heart pounding in his chest as he heard the creatures chasing after him, their thunderous footsteps echoing through the sewers.

Mikey looked around desperately as he ran, eyes wide to spot anywhere he could hide from the mutants. Looking behind him, he gasped and jumped to the left just in time as a huge string of white webbing with blue sparks flying from it whizzed past him, landing on the wall. "Electrified webs?!" Mikey shouted, and carried on running. Looking up, his eyes widened as he got an idea, and at the next junction in the sewer he turned left, jumping up and grabbing hold of one of the pipes lining the ceiling. He wrapped his arms and legs around the metal pipe and spun himself round so he was lying on his stomach and almost out of sight of the creatures. He held his breath as he heard them run by, shrieking as they went, desperate to find him.

Mikey let out the breath he was holding as soon as they were gone and pulled out his T-Phone, speed dialling Leo.

"_Hello_?" said the voice of the other end. "_Mikey, where are you? We've been looking –_"

"Sorry dude, no time to explain." interrupted Mikey. "You've gotta track my phone! There're these spider-cockroach-rats after me!"

"_What? Mikey, I–_"

Suddenly, something wrapped around Mikey's foot and he screamed in pain as electricity coursed through him. He dropped the phone and fell unconscious as the creatures looked up at him, and shrieked again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mikey?" asked Leo frantically, shaking the T-Phone. "Mikey!"

"Leo, what's going on?" asked Raph. They were on their way out of the lair when Leo had gotten the panicked call from their younger brother.

"Mikey's being chased by some mutants," said Leo, turning to Raph and Donnie. "Then he just screamed and the line went dead!"

"We've got to find him and fast." said Raph. "Donnie, you got his signal yet?"

"No, not yet. I'm having a little trouble with – ah! Here we go." He grinned and held out the phone in front of him, before frowning. "He's in a part of the sewers we've never been before."

"What's the goof doing there?" asked Raph.

"I dunno, but he's not moving!" said Donnie, and began to run, closely followed by Leo and Raph.

* * *

"Okay," said Donnie. "He must have come through here. There's no other way for him to get to where he is now."

"You sure?" asked Leo, looking down the hole. "How would he get down?"

"With this?" said Raph, holding up the kusarigama chain. It was still attached to the pipe above them, and the three brothers leaned over the edge to see how far down it went.

"Better get going," said Leo, and led the way. He grabbed the chain and made his descent with Donnie and Raph close behind him. Leo stopped when he reached the end of the chain, and called up to his brothers. "He must've jumped off here. There's no way he could make it back up, though"

"That sounds like Mikey all right," said Raph sarcastically. "Always thinking ahead."

"Donnie, any ideas on how we can get back up here?" asked Leo.

"Yeah," replied Donnie. "I grabbed a grappling hook before we left." He threw the grappling hook down to Leo, who caught it with one hand, then proceeded to tie one end to the end of Mikey's kusarigama chain. He slid down the remaining distance, and jumped off, looking around.

At a first sight, there was nothing there, but at a closer look, Leo gasped. "Guys," he called. "Take a look at this!" his brothers walked over curiously.

"Mutagen?" asked Raph.

"Mikey found what he was looking for," said Donnie.

"More like it found him." said Leo.

"Which way would he have gone?" asked Raph. Leo looked around on the ground, illuminated by the glow from the mutagen.

"Something tells me he went this way," he said, pointing to the opening Mikey had run through an hour ago. Raph and Donnie looked down and saw what Leo was pointing at. In the wet ground of the sewer were the clear imprints of a creature with huge feet and claws.

"Must've been big," said Donnie. "Look at how deep these footprints are."

"Look at how big the _feet_ are," said Raph.

"Whatever made these footprints must have chased Mikey." said Leo, beginning to run beside the footprints.

"There's also got to have been at least three more, judging by the amount of them," added Donnie.

They ran for what seemed like hours, following both the tracks left by the creature and the tracking device on Mikey's T-Phone, until Raph stopped dead.

"What is it?" asked Leo.

"Look," said Raph, pointing at the wall. Leo looked and frowned as he saw what looked like a huge splatter of webbing.

"Mikey did say 'spider' in the description." said Leo, stepping forwards to touch it.

"No don't touch it!" shouted Donnie, grabbing Leo's arm and yanking him back. "It's electrified."

"Do you think it got Mikey?" asked Raph fearfully, although he tried his best not to show his concern.

"I'm not sure. Hopefully he was just screaming because he saw a rat and not a _mutant_ one." replied Leo.

They continued walking for a little while longer, and turned left before Donnie told them all to stop.

"What?" asked Raph.

"His phone should be here," replied Donnie. "_He_ should be here."

"Well," said Raph, looking up. "I found the phone." He jumped up and grabbed it from where it was balancing on the edge of the pipe.

"He must have hidden there when he called us," said Leo.

"So where is he now?" asked Donnie, looking at his tracker as if it would magically show him the location of his brother.

"Let's keep following the footprints." said Leo, and they continued down the sewer, eyes and ears alert for the slightest sign that their little brother was okay.

* * *

Mikey groaned and blinked his eyes open, shuddering. His whole body ached, and he couldn't remember a thing.

He lifted his head and looked around, searching for any kind of sign that could tell him where he was, but he found none. "Dude..." he groaned, and made to get up, but found that he couldn't. Looking down, he realised to his surprise that someone, or some_thing_ had tied him to a sewer pipe. He tried to move his arms, and in doing so he realised that the thing holding him down was sticky. _Sticky?_ He thought. _Kinda like..._ his head snapped up in shock as he remembered everything that had happened to him. He struggled against the webbing binding his arms to his sides, but soon realised that it was a lot stronger then he was. He leaned his head back against the cold surface of the metal pipe he was tied to and sighed heavily. This time, he knew he was too far deep to get out of this alone. He needed his brothers.

He used the limited amount of room his wrists had and moved his hands around his belt, searching for his T-Phone. His heart dropped when he realised he must have dropped it when the creatures grabbed him after he called Leo. Looking around, Mikey struggled to see anything other than pipes and concrete, but he knew the creatures were somewhere close by. They weren't going to leave him here...were they? Suddenly, a voice to his left made him jump and he looked over to see its owner.

"The Rat King?!" exclaimed Mikey as the cloaked human moved in front of the turtle.

"Yes, how very _perceptive _of you." replied Falco, grinning. Mikey made a distasteful face as the Rat King's sickly green, scarred face cracked into a smile showing two rows of crooked, decaying teeth. "You don't like my appearance, turtle?" asked Falco, leaning down to look Mikey in the eye. Mikey recoiled at the smell of Victor's rancid breath, but didn't say a word. "I bet you're wondering why you're here. I mean, what would _I_ want with the likes of _you_?" he stood up straight and looked down at the young turtle.

"Dude, did you make those things?" asked Mikey finally, referring to the creatures.

"No, I did not, but as you have probably already noticed they're part rat and, well, I _am_ the Rat King."

"So you could control them...just like that?"

"I did not come here to discuss how I got you here. You are merely here as bait."

"Bait?" repeated Mikey, trying to swallow his fear.

"Yes. You see, when your brothers come looking for you, and they will, I'll capture them as well. Then your Master will have no choice but to join me, or else you four will be eliminated." Mikey gasped and the Rat King laughed.

"He won't!" Mikey insisted, but even to himself he sounded unsure.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Reviews are ****_very_**** welcome ;) **

* * *

With Mikey's T-Phone safely tucked away in Donnie's belt, the three turtles continued their search for their missing brother.

"How far did they take him?" wondered Raph. It had been half an hour since they'd found the phone, and the only thing they had to go on was still the footprints.

"I'm not sure, but we can't give up now!" said Leo.

"Maybe we should've told Splinter where we were going," said Donnie as they turned another corner.

"Maybe, but the sooner we find Mikey the sooner we can get back."

"And we will find him," added Raph.

"Wait!" said Donnie, holding out a hand to stop the other two. "The foot prints end here." He pointed to the ground and sure enough, the foot prints ended next to the wall as if the owner had just vanished.

"How could that many mutants that size just disappear?" wondered Leo, kneeling down to inspect them.

"They didn't," replied Donnie, looking up at the ceiling. "They just took a different route, look!" Leo and Raph looked up, and saw a hole in the ceiling big enough to just about fit all three of them at once.

Without another word, Donnie stood directly under the hole and crouched down, holding his staff out horizontally in front of him. Leo took a couple of steps beck before running and jumping onto the bo, using both his and Donnie's momentum to push himself up and into the next part of the sewers. Raph did the same before they both hauled Donnie up by his bo staff.

"Look," said Leo, pointing at the ground once they were all in the new part of the sewers. "More foot prints!" they continued to follow them, and after ten minutes, the buzz of finding the trap door in the ceiling was wearing thin.

"How much longer is this gonna take?" asked Raph.

"As long as it needs." replied Leo. "Remember our rule? No turtle left behind, so we keep moving until we find Mikey."

"Uh, how about a huge monster?" asked Donnie from in front.

"What? No, I –" Leo stopped and looked up with a gulp. There, in front of him, was a creature which looked like someone had grabbed a spider, cockroach and rat and thrown them into a blender to see the result. The three pulled out their weapons and stood in defensive stances, ready to take on the gigantic creature. Suddenly, another appeared, and another, and another, and the trio backed up, eyes wide. "Run!" Leo shouted, and the others didn't need telling twice as they all turned and ran as fast as they could through the sewers.

"How many are there?" gasped Raph, and Donnie looked behind them before snapping his head back to the front, looking pale. "Well"?

"Let's just say there are definitely more than six." replied Donnie shakily.

* * *

"As we speak, my creatures are leading your brothers here, and when they arrive I'll have a special surprise for them." The Rat King laughed, and Mikey gulped, knowing there was nothing he could do in his current predicament.

No sooner had he said the words than Leo, Raph and Donnie had burst through the opening in the wall, followed by at least sixteen of the creatures which had captured Mikey. Raph saw Mikey first and gasped. "Mikey?"

Donnie and Leo looked at him too and they began to run to him, but their relief was short lived as huge iron bars stopped them as they were half way to their brother. "What?" exclaimed Leo, spinning around. There were bars everywhere he looked, including up, and he groaned as he realised they'd run straight into a trap.

"How nice of you to join us," an all too familiar voice spoke from their left, and they turned to see the Rat King, walking towards them with his hands held behind his back.

"Rat King?" said Donnie, clearly surprised.

"How are you still alive?" demanded Raph, grabbing the bars of the cage. "Splinter defeated you!"

"Clearly not, as I am still here now," the Rat King gestured to himself.

"Guys!" called Mikey from his place at the pipe. "He's gonna use us to get to Splinter!"

Leo glared at the Rat King, "You've tried that before, and it won't work."

"But that was before I thought to hold the four of you." replied the Rat King. "Now, Splinter has no choice but to join me if he ever wants to see his _precious sons_ again." He laughed loudly, and all four of the brothers glared daggers at the cloaked man. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a ninja master to summon." He turned and swept back through the opening in the wall, hundreds of rats scurrying loyally after him. The huge creatures melted away into the shadows, although the brothers knew they wouldn't be far away.

Raph sighed and slid to the ground with his back to the bars, followed closely by Leo and Donnie while Mikey stayed where he was, not that he had much option other than to stay seated.

"Nice going Mikey," said Raph suddenly. "Not only did you manage to get yourself caught, but you got us caught as well! Not to mention Splinter, who, knowing him, is gonna take one look at us and surrender!"

"Raph, don't be so harsh. It's not just Mikey's fault." said Leo.

"There you go again, sticking up for Mikey _like always_. You _never_ side with me, and this time you _know_ I'm right!"

"Raph –"

"No, Leo. We're all thinking it. If Mikey hadn't run off like that then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Well _maybe_ if you'd listened to me, you'd have known _why_ I went!" suddenly said Mikey. "You guys never trust me to do anything on my own. I was gonna prove to you that I could. How was I gonna know the mutagen smashed?"

"Common sense, Mikey!" Mikey huffed and looked away, while Raph crossed his arms angrily.

"Guys, that's what the new mutagen does!" said Donnie suddenly.

"What?" asked Leo.

"The mutagen! Remember when Mikey said it was different?" Leo nodded his head hesitantly. "Well, this is what it does! It creates a three-way mutation."

"So _that's_ why the Ratnips were like cockroaches, rats _and_ spiders!" realised Mikey, bouncing back quickly after his argument with Raph.

"Ratnips?" asked Leo, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Because all I really saw was their ugly rat faces before I ran, and they looked like they were trying to nip –"

"Although what the Kraang plan to do with it is another thing entirely." Donnie said, cutting Mikey off.

"Before we do anything about that, we've gotta find a way out of here," said Leo. "Mikey, can you get loose?"

"No bro, this stuff's strong," replied Mikey, pushing forward at the webbing with all his might.

"I have an idea," said Leo, pulling out a katana, and aiming the point at his younger brother. "Hold still Mikey."

"Dude, why – no! Leo, wait!" the katana sliced through the air and flew past the bars of the cage, heading straight for Mikey.

"I can't watch," muttered Donnie, covering his face with his hand, although he peeked out through the gap between his fingers.

Mikey opened his eyes after he heard a thud, unaware he had closed them and looked down before breathing out a sigh of relief. The sword had cut straight through the webbing just to the left of Mikey, allowing the young ninja space to pull the rest off of him. As soon as he managed to get himself free, he jumped up and stretched his arms out in front of him, before pulling Leo's katana out of the pipe behind him. A hissing sound came from the hole made by the sword and steam shot out of the new exit in the pipe.

"Mikey, can you get us free?" asked Leo.

"I dunno, dude. There's no switch or anything." replied the smaller turtle, looking at the bars of the cage with a hand held to his chin thoughtfully.

"Loosen the bolts!" said Donnie.

"Huh?"

"Holding the cage together!" Donnie pointed to the top corners of the cage and Mikey's eyes brightened.

"Oh!" with admirable speed, Mikey jumped and rebounded off the wall and onto the side of the cage, clinging on like a monkey for a couple of seconds before climbing up the rest of the way until he reached the top. "Leo!" he called and his brother looked up as he passed the Katana through the gap between the bars. Leo took the sword and sheathed it, before watching Mikey as he knelt down next to one of the bolts holding the cage together. He pulled out his remaining kusarigama and used the blade at the end as a screwdriver to loosen the bolt.

Leo watched his little brother work on the cage, but froze when he heard a sound. "Hurry Mikey!" he whispered. "Someone's coming!" Mikey's eyes widened, and he worked faster, knowing that this could be their only chance to get free.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I am so sorry for not updating, but I honestly thought I'd updated! I'd put it as 'completed' and everything! Wow I'm so dumb, sorry!

This is the final chapter, so thank you to everyone who's reviewed and enjoy the last of the story!

* * *

Splinter walked back to the dojo and sat under the tree, getting ready to meditate. He had looked around the lair, but had found no trace of his sons. He knew they would come back in their own time, but couldn't stop the nagging in the back of his head telling him to go and find them.

"_Splinter,_" Splinter gasped and his eyes shot open. _I know that voice. _"_Splinter,_"

"No," he said. "Leave me alone, I have defeated you once and I will not hesitate to do it again!"

"_Join me, Splinter. You can do so much better than _this"

"No, I will never join you!"

"_I have your sons, join me and I will free them._"

"You lie!" shouted Splinter, even though he knew deep down that the Rat King was telling the truth.

"_If you're so sure, then don't come, but I can assure you they won't be coming home._"

Splinter stayed seated and closed his eyes, trying to find any trace of the Rat King still in his head, but there was none. He sighed and looked at his family photo, sitting on a shelf on the wall. He walked over to it and picked up the picture and stroked the face of his wife lovingly. "I have already lost one family. I refuse to lose another." Splinter placed the photo back on the shelf before leaving the dojo.

* * *

"Ah, I knew you would come." said the Rat King. He had been waiting for Splinter in his last lair, and wasn't surprised in the slightest to see the ninja master enter.

"Where are my sons?" demanded Splinter, his frown deepening.

"If you give me your word that you will be loyal to me, then I will let them go." replied the Rat King, holding his hands behind his back.

"I will do no such thing until I see them."

"Very well. Follow me." The Rat King turned and left the lair, followed by hundreds of his rat followers. Splinter hesitated, but followed him out.

* * *

"Splinter!" cried Donnie, jumping up from his place on the floor.

"My sons!" said Splinter, running to the cage. He looked at each of them in turn; quickly assessing them for damage and was relieved when he found none, although the absence of his youngest son worried him. "Where is Michelangelo?"

"Here Sensei," called Mikey from his place tied to the pipe. Mikey smiled at his sensei, but Splinter did not return the smile, instead turning to the Rat King.

"Remember your promise?" The Rat King asked, his rotting teeth showing as he sneered at the ninja master. Splinter frowned and looked back to each of the turtles in turn, his gaze landing on Leo last. Leo's lips twitched up in a smile and he nodded briefly at his sensei, who mirrored his nod.

"I do," Splinter replied. He walked to the far side of the room, making sure to take his time, and the Rat King followed him.

"Good," he said. "Now, swear to me that you will have undying loyalty to me and I shall let those – oof!" he cried out as a whack on the back of the head from one of Raph's sais sent him sprawling to the ground. He tried to get up, but Mikey and Donnie did a double roundhouse kick to his stomach, sending him flying into the wall. He groaned and held his head, before calling for his mutant creatures. "Come, your master needs you!"

Immediately, shrieking could be heard and before long the Ratnips appeared, angrily snarling at the turtles and their father. As soon as he saw them, Leo jumped forward and grabbed the Rat King, holding him in front of him and his family as a shield while holding his katana blade to the villain's neck. "Back off," he threatened, narrowing his eyes.

"Do as he says!" shouted the Rat King.

"Coward," Raph spat.

Slowly, the Ratnips backed away and disappeared from sight, and Leo only let the Rat King go when he was sure they were gone.

"H-how did you get free?" asked the Rat King, looking at each of the turtles as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Simple really," said Leo.

* * *

_"Hurry Mikey!" he whispered. "Someone's coming!" Mikey's eyes widened, and he worked faster, knowing that this could be their only chance to get free._

_"Done!" exclaimed Mikey, jumping down from the cage. He put his hands on the bars, about to pull them off but Leo stopped him. _

_"Wait!" said Leo. "Let him think he's still got us. We'd have a better chance of escaping then. If we get out now he'll probably see us and get the Ratnips on us,"_

_"Uh, okay," said Mikey, letting go of the bars. _

_"Tie yourself up again!"_

_"_What_?" he crossed his arms._

_"Mikey," growled Raph angrily. They could all hear the Rat King's sickening voice, and knew they didn't have much time. "Get back in the web!"_

_"Okay!" Mikey ran to the pipe and sat back down. He then, with great difficulty, brought the sticky strands of web back around himself and sighed in relief as Splinter and Rat King walked through the entrance with barely a beat to spare. _

* * *

"And then," said Leo, "we just had to wait for Master Splinter to get you to the other side of the room, before we broke free."

"Pretty smart, huh?" said Mikey, grinning.

"Indeed, my sons." said Splinter. "But how did you know I was coming as well?"

"Well...we didn't," confessed Leo, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We were just gonna escape when the Rat King had his back turned, but this works too."

"We have to do something about the Ratnips, Sensei." said Raph. "They could come back!"

"I have an idea," said Donnie. "But we need someone to lure them here." Leo, Donnie and Raph turned to Mikey, and the youngest turtle looked around in confusion.

"Why's everyone looking at me?"

"I think we found our bait!" said Raph, grinning.

"What? Why do _I_ always have to be bait?!"

"Because you have that 'punch me really hard' air about you," replied Raph.

"Hey!"

"Just go, Mikey! We don't have time!" said Leo in annoyance.

"Fine, but you guys owe me!" he ran out of the door and Donnie and Leo pulled the extremely angry Rat King over to the pipe Mikey was tied to. They wrapped the webbing around him and made sure it was tied properly, before Donnie used the blade on his bo staff to make the hole in the pipe much bigger.

"If I'm right about what gas this is, the sparks from their electric webbing should cause a huge explosion." said Donnie, moving to the side of the entrance with the others close behind him.

Screaming could be heard, and the turtles and Splinter got ready to move. Before long, Mikey appeared through the entrance and stopped. "Guys?" he called shakily and seconds later, the Ratnips burst through the entrance. Mikey's eyes widened like saucers, and he grunted as something tackled him from the left just as one of the Ratnips shot a string of webbing. Leo jumped off of Mikey and grabbed his brother's hand, dragging him out of the room and down a passageway in the sewers where the others were waiting.

"Get down!" Leo shouted, and pushed Mikey into the wall, curling himself over him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raph do the same to Donnie, or at least attempt to, given the fact the Donnie was taller. He felt Splinter's strong arms wrap protectively around all of them, and milliseconds later, a huge explosion could be heard, the heat hot against them as they struggled to stay where they were. Pieces of concrete flew into them, although most of it was stopped by Master Splinter. They stayed like that for a couple of seconds, huddled together with their eyes squeezed shut before Master Splinter moved, sending pieces of debris rolling off of his back and onto the floor and allowing his sons to get up.

Leo looked down and saw Mikey grinning up at him. He got to his feet and helped his little brother up, before doing the same with Raph. "Nice job, Donnie," Leo said to the younger turtle.

"Thanks," Donnie replied, grinning. Leo turned and patted Mikey on the head, before heading over to where Master Splinter and Raph were standing, looking at the remains of the Rat King's lair.

"He could have escaped," said Raph.

"Unlikely," said Donnie.

"Was that all of them Mikey?" asked Leo.

"Yep!" he replied. "And now there's none."

The family smiled at each other, tired and dirty, but happy and excited, knowing that they would have no more problems with the Rat King, _or_ the Ratnips.

* * *

"What happened to the spare mutagen?" asked Leo. They'd been back in the lair for a while, and Leo and Donnie had decided to sit down and watch Space Heroes. Ironically, the same episode Leo had been watching was on, but he was too exhausted to change it. You couldn't have too much of a good thing, right?

"Master Splinter went to wash it away." replied Donnie. "Something about it being too dangerous for me to experiment with."

"Looks like we'll need to find some more mutagen then," said Leo, grinning.

* * *

"Hey Mikey." said Raph, sitting down next to Mikey, who was sitting cross legged on the ground by the pool of water.

"Hey," Mikey replied, uncharacteristically quiet.

"What's up?" Raph asked, in a rare show of compassion.

"Do you really think all this was my fault?" asked Mikey, looking up at his brother. Raph smiled; Mikey was never one for keeping his emotions bottled up for too long.

"No, Mikey. I was just frustrated that we got caught so easily. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"So...it _wasn't_ my fault?" his face began to break into a smile and Raph gave him a light punch on the arm.

"No, knucklehead. It wasn't your fault."

Mikey grinned and punched him back, a little harder. "Thanks, Raph."

"Don't mention it." he got up to leave, but paused and looked down at his orange clad brother. He rubbed Mikey's head affectionately and the smaller turtle smiled, "Glad we got you back, little brother."

Mikey grinned and got up, before stepping back a few paces with his hands behind his back. Raph watched his brother curiously with raised eyebrows. "Me too," said Mikey, and pulled out a red water balloon from who-knows-where, wasting no time in throwing it at his elder brother. It hit Raph square in the face and Mikey 'whooped' with joy. "Doctor Prankenstein's back!" he shouted, before turning and running away from the fuming red clad turtle.

"MIKEY!" Raph's angry shout echoed through the lair, followed by a squeal from Mikey and then the crash of furniture being knocked over.

Leo looked over at Donnie, who rolled his eyes, grinning. The blue clad turtle looked back to the TV, just as the final scene began to play.

The characters were about to get on the ship, and were sharing a heartfelt moment. "_Glad we got you back,_" said Captain Ryan. He grinned at his team mate, who grinned back. They began to walk back onto the ship, but unbeknownst to them, two yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness behind them, setting the scene for the next episode; _Return of the Creatures of the Caves_.


End file.
